March 12
Events * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius *1550 – Several hundred Spanish and indigenous troops under the command of Pedro de Valdivia defeat an army of 60,000 Mapuche at the Battle of Penco during the Arauco War in present-day Chile *1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church *1689 – The Williamite War in Ireland begins. *1811 – Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delayed the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha *1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign begins as a US Navy fleet of 13 Ironclads and 7 Gunboats and other support ships enter the Red River *1881 – Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain. *1885 – Tonkin Campaign: France captures the citadel of Bắc Ninh. *1894 – Coca-Cola is bottled and sold for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local soda fountain operator Joseph A. Biedenharn. *1912 – The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States. *1913 – Canberra Day: The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. (Melbourne remains temporary capital until 1927 while the new capital is still under construction.) *1918 – Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for 215 years. *1920 – The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin. *1921 – İstiklâl Marşı is adopted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. *1922 – Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan form the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic *1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kills 431 people. *1930 – Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India *1933 – Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his "fireside chats". *1934 – Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia, and ban all political parties. *1938 – Anschluss: German troops occupy and absorb Austria. *1940 – Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and the remaining population are immediately evacuated. *1942 – Pacific War: The Battle of Java ends with an ABDACOM surrender to the Japanese Empire in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies. *1947 – The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism. *1950 – The Llandow air disaster occurs near Sigingstone, Wales, in which 80 people die when their aircraft crashed, making it the world's deadliest air disaster at the time. *1961 – First winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. *1967 – Suharto take power from Sukarno when the MPRS inaugurated him as Acting President of Indonesia. *1968 – Mauritius achieves independence from the United Kingdom. *1971 – The March 12 Memorandum is sent to the Suleyman Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns. *1992 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. *1993 – Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more. * 1993 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites. *1994 – The Church of England ordains its first female priests. *1999 – Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO. *2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade. *2003 – WHO officially released global warning on pandemic SARS disease. *2004 – The President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its National Assembly: The first such impeachment in the nation's history. *2009 – Financier Bernard Madoff pleads guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street's history. *2011 – A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melts and explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan's earthquake. *2014 – A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others. Births *1270 – Charles, Count of Valois (d. 1325) *1386 – Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (d. 1428) *1475 – Luca Gaurico, Italian astrologer (d. 1558) *1476 – Anna Jagiellon, Duchess of Pomerania, Polish princess (d. 1503) *1479 – Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours (d. 1516) *1500 – Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1558) *1501 – Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Italian scientist (d. 1577) *1607 – Paul Gerhardt, German poet and composer (d. 1676) *1613 – André Le Nôtre, French gardener and architect (d. 1700) *1620 – Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667) *1626 – John Aubrey, English historian and philosopher (d. 1697) *1647 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727) *1672 – Richard Steele, Irish-Welsh journalist and politician (d. 1729) *1685 – George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (d. 1753) *1710 – Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778) *1781 – Frederica of Baden (d. 1826) *1795 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Toronto (d. 1861) *1806 – Jane Pierce, American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (d. 1863) *1821 – John Abbott, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893) *1824 – Gustav Kirchhoff, Russian-German physicist and academic (d. 1887) *1831 – Clement Studebaker, American businessman, co-founded Studebaker (d. 1901) *1832 – Charles Boycott, English farmer and agent (d. 1897) * 1832 – Charles Friedel, French chemist and mineralogist (d.1899) *1835 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909) *1837 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911) *1838 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (d. 1907) *1851 – Theodore Thurston Geer, American journalist and politician, 10th Governor of Oregon (d. 1924) *1858 – Adolph Ochs, American publisher (d. 1935) *1859 – Abraham H. Cannon, American religious leader (d. 1896) *1860 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian poet and author (d. 1895) *1861 – József Konkolics, Hungarian-Slovene cantor and author (d. 1941) *1863 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian soldier, journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1938) * 1863 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist and chemist (d. 1945) *1864 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (d. 1922) * 1864 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist and composer (d. 1943) * 1864 – Charles Young, American colonel (d. 1922) *1869 – George Forbes, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1947) *1874 – Charles Weeghman, American businessman (d. 1938) *1877 – Wilhelm Frick, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 1946) *1878 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903) *1880 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American chemist and academic (d. 1952) * 1880 – Jaan Soots, Estonian general and politician, 7th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1942) *1881 – Gunnar Nordström, Finnish physicist and academic (d. 1923) *1883 – Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian politician (d. 1959) *1889 – Idris of Libya (d. 1983) *1890 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1950) * 1890 – William Dudley Pelley, American screenwriter and politician, founded the Silver Legion of America (d. 1965) * 1890 – Evert Taube, Swedish singer-songwriter and lute player (d. 1976) *1891 – George W. Mason, American businessman (d. 1954) *1895 – Otakar Batlička, Czech journalist and author (d. 1942) * 1895 – William C. Lee, American general (d. 1948) *1896 – Jesse Fuller, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1976) *1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (d. 2007) *1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970) * 1908 – David Marshall, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore (d. 1995) *1910 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1980) *1911 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 49th President of Mexico (d. 1979) *1912 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (d. 2006) * 1912 – Edgar Tafel, American architect (d. 2011) * 1912 – Paul Weston, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996) *1913 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1984) * 1913 – Agathe von Trapp, Hungarian-American singer and author (d. 2010) *1914 – Frank Soo, English footballer and manager (d. 1991) *1915 – Willibald C. Bianchi, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1945) * 1915 – Alberto Burri, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1995) *1917 – Leonard Chess, American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (d. 1969) * 1917 – Millard Kaufman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009) * 1917 – Googie Withers, Indian-Australian actress (d. 2011) *1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (d. 1989) *1919 – Mike Stepovich, American lawyer and politician, Governor of the Territory of Alaska (d. 2014) *1920 – Roland Fraïssé, French mathematical logician (d. 2008) *1921 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (d. 2003) * 1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986) *1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969) * 1922 – Lane Kirkland, American sailor and union leader (d. 1999) *1923 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (d. 2013) * 1923 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005) * 1923 – Clara Fraser, American activist, co-founded Radical Women (d. 1998) * 1923 – Hanne Hiob, German actress and screenwriter (d. 2009) * 1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007) * 1923 – Joseph F. Weis, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 2014) * 1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014) *1924 – Henri Rochon, Canadian tennis player (d. 2005) * 1924 – Mary Lee Woods, English mathematician and computer programmer *1925 – Louison Bobet, French cyclist (d. 1983) * 1925 – Georges Delerue, French pianist and composer (d. 1992) * 1925 – Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate * 1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (d. 2012) *1926 – George Ariyoshi, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii *1927 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (d. 2009) *1928 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (d. 2016) * 1928 – Aldemaro Romero, Venezuelan pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007) *1930 – Bronco Horvath, Canadian ice hockey player and coach * 1930 – Vern Law, American baseball player, coach, and manager * 1930 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (d. 2014) *1931 – Herb Kelleher, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines * 1931 – Robert B. Oakley, American soldier and diplomat, 19th United States Ambassador to Pakistan (d. 2014) *1932 – Andrew Young, American pastor and politician, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations *1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress *1934 – Virginia Hamilton, American author (d. 2002) * 1934 – David Spenser, Sri Lankan-English actor and director (d. 2013) *1936 – Lloyd Dobyns, American journalist and author * 1936 – Patrick Procktor, Irish-English painter and academic (d. 2003) * 1936 – Eddie Sutton, American basketball player and coach *1937 – Valentīna Eiduka, Latvian javelin thrower and coach *1938 – Lew DeWitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990) * 1938 – Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver and sportscaster * 1938 – Dimitri Terzakis, Greek-German composer and educator *1939 – Lyndsie Holland, English actress and singer (d. 2014) * 1939 – Jude Milhon, American hacker and author (d. 2003) *1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017) *1942 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general * 1942 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (d. 2013) * 1942 – Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player and sportscaster *1945 – George Jackson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013) *1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer, and dancer * 1946 – Frank Welker, American voice actor and singer *1946 – Serge Turgeon, Canadian actor and union leader (d. 2004) *1947 – Peter Harry Carstensen, German educator and politician * 1947 – Mary Jean Harrold, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013) * 1947 – Kalervo Palsa, Finnish painter (d. 1987) * 1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts *1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish social worker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport * 1948 – Kent Conrad, American politician * 1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist *1949 – Mike Gibbins, Welsh drummer, singer, and songwriter (Badfinger) (d. 2005) * 1949 – Rob Cohen, American director, producer, and screenwriter * 1949 – David Mellor, English journalist, lawyer, and politician, Chief Secretary to the Treasury * 1949 – Bill Payne, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer * 1949 – Fergus Slattery, Irish rugby player *1950 – Javier Clemente, Spanish footballer and manager *1952 – Boris Anatolyevich Gavrilov, Russian football player and manager *1953 – Ron Jeremy, American pornographic actor *1954 – Anish Kapoor, Indian-English sculptor * 1954 – Hajime Meshiai, Japanese golfer *1955 – Nicole Léger, Canadian educator and politician *1956 – Steve Harris, English bass player and songwriter * 1956 – Lesley Manville, English actress * 1956 – Dale Murphy, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster *1957 – Patrick Battiston, French footballer and coach * 1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer *1958 – Phil Anderson, English-Australian cyclist * 1958 – Matt Millen, American football player, executive, and sportscaster * 1958 – Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer-songwriter and bass player * 1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor and painter *1961 – Joseph Facal, Canadian journalist and politician * 1961 – Titus Welliver, American actor *1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player and minister *1963 – Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner and coach * 1963 – Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager * 1963 – Paul Way, English golfer *1965 – Steve Finley, American baseball player * 1965 – Shawn Gilbert, American baseball player and coach *1966 – Grant Long, American basketball player and sportscaster *1967 – Jorge Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager * 1967 – Julio Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager *1968 – Dylan Carlson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American colonel, pilot, and politician * 1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor and producer *1969 – Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist and author *1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter * 1970 – Mathias Gronberg, Swedish golfer * 1970 – John Nemechek, American race car driver (d. 1997) * 1970 – Rex Walters, American basketball player and coach *1971 – Isaiah Rider, American basketball player and rapper * 1971 – Dragutin Topić, Serbian high jumper *1972 – Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter *1974 – Matt Barela, American wrestler and actor * 1974 – Chris Carr, American basketball player and coach * 1974 – Steve Price, Australian rugby league player *1975 – Kéllé Bryan, English singer-songwriter and actress *1977 – Ramiro Corrales, American soccer player *1978 – Casey Mears, American race car driver * 1978 – Neal Obermeyer, American cartoonist * 1978 – Claudio Sanchez, American singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese author and illustrator *1979 – Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player and coach * 1979 – Nidia Guenard, American wrestler and manager * 1979 – Shaun Rogers, American football player * 1979 – Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian footballer *1980 – Jens Mouris, Dutch cyclist * 1980 – Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player *1981 – Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler and kick-boxer * 1981 – Maurizio Lauro, Italian footballer * 1981 – Kristjan Makke, Estonian basketball player * 1981 – Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player * 1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist *1982 – Zach Miner, American baseball player * 1982 – Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer * 1982 – Erick Stevens, American wrestler *1985 – Ed Clancy, English track and road cyclist *1986 – Danny Jones, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor * 1986 – Ben Offereins, Australian runner *1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer * 1987 – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player * 1987 – Chris Seitz, American soccer player * 1987 – Omar Abdulrazaq, Syrian footballer *1988 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoe racer * 1988 – Konstantinos Mitroglou, Greek footballer * 1988 – Tyler Ward, American singer-songwriter and guitarist * 1988 – Myles Weston, English footballer *1989 – Richard Eckersley, English footballer * 1989 – Siim Luts, Estonian footballer * 1989 – Mark Sirõk, Estonian activist * 1989 – Gareth Widdop, English rugby league player *1990 – Lawrence Clarke, English hurdler *1991 – Felix Kroos, German footballer *1992 – Cian Bolger, Irish footballer *1993 – Anton Shramchenko, Belarusian footballer * 1993 – Jeppe Tverskov, Danish professional footballer * 1993 – Nikolai Alho, Finnish football player *1994 – Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist * 1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016) *1995 – Will Pearsall, Australian rugby league player *1996 – Robert Bartczak, Polish footballer * 1996 – Aristo Sham, Hong Kong pianist Deaths * 417 – Innocent I, pope of the Catholic Church * 604 – Gregory I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 540) * 951 – Ælfheah the Bald, bishop of Winchester * 969 – Mu Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (b. 931) *1289 – Demetrius II, king of Georgia (b. 1259) *1316 – Stefan Dragutin, king of Serbia (b. 1253) *1374 – Go-Kōgon, Japanese emperor (b. 1338) *1496 – Johann Heynlin, German humanist scholar (b. c. 1425) *1507 – Cesare Borgia, Italian cardinal (b. 1475) *1539 – Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat and politician (b.1477) *1608 – Kōriki Kiyonaga, Japanese daimyo (b. 1530) *1628 – John Bull, English organist and composer (b. 1562) *1648 – Tirso de Molina, Spanish monk and poet (b. 1571) *1681 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter (b. 1635) *1699 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish politician (b. 1635) *1703 – Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford, English jurist and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1627) *1731 – Ernest August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (b. 1660) *1790 – András Hadik, Hungarian field marshal (b. 1710) *1820 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish explorer and politician (b. 1764) *1832 – Friedrich Kuhlau, German-Danish pianist and composer (b. 1786) *1858 – William James Blacklock, English-Scottish painter (b. 1816) *1872 – Zeng Guofan, Chinese general and politician, Viceroy of Liangjiang (b. 1811) *1894 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840) *1898 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish-Swedish journalist, historian, and author (b. 1818) *1909 – Joseph Petrosino, American police officer (b. 1860) *1914 – George Westinghouse, American engineer and businessman (b. 1846) *1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (b. 1830) *1925 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese physician and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1866) *1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (b. 1851) * 1929 – William Turner Dannat, American painter (b. 1853) *1930 – William George Barker, Canadian colonel and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1894) * 1930 – Alois Jirásek, Czech author and playwright (b. 1851) * 1935 – Mihajlo Pupin, Serbian-American physicist and chemist (b. 1858) *1937 – Jenő Hubay, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1858) * 1937 – Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (b. 1844) *1942 – Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH (b. 1861) * 1942 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862) *1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869) *1945 – Friedrich Fromm, German general (b. 1888) *1946 – Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian soldier and politician, Head of State of Hungary (b. 1897) *1947 – Winston Churchill, American author and playwright (b. 1871) *1949 – Wilhelm Steinkopf, German chemist (b. 1879) *1954 – Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (b. 1870) *1955 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1920) * 1955 – Theodor Plievier, German author best known for his anti-war novel (b. 1892) *1956 – Bolesław Bierut, Polish Communist leader (b. 1892) *1957 – Josephine Hull, American actress (b. 1877) *1960 – Kshitimohan Sen, Indian historian, author, and academic (b. 1880) *1963 – Arthur Grimsdell, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1894) *1964 – Abbās al-Aqqād, Egyptian journalist, poet and literary critic (b. 1889) *1971 – Eugene Lindsay Opie, American physician and pathologist (b. 1873) *1973 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898) *1974 – George D. Sax, American banker and businessman (b. 1904) *1979 – Nader Jahanbani, Iranian general and pilot (b. 1928) *1984 – Arnold Ridley, English actor and playwright (b. 1896) *1985 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (b. 1899) *1987 – Woody Hayes, American football player and coach (b. 1913) *1989 – Maurice Evans, English-American actor (b. 1901) *1989 – Jakob Gimpel, Polish concert pianist and educator (b. 1906) *1991 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900) * 1991 – William Heinesen, Faroese author, poet, and author (b. 1900) *1992 – Hans G. Kresse, Dutch cartoonist (b. 1921) * 1992 – Lucy M. Lewis, American potter (b. 1890) *1998 – Beatrice Wood, American painter and potter (b. 1893) *1999 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1916) *2001 – Morton Downey, Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor, and talk show host (b. 1933) * 2001 – Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927) * 2001 – Victor Westhoff, Dutch botanist and academic (b. 1916) *2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932) * 2002 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923) *2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952) * 2003 – Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1914) * 2003 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (b. 1948) *2004 – Milton Resnick, Russian-American painter (b. 1917) *2005 – Bill Cameron, Canadian journalist and producer (b. 1943) * 2005 – Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Greek composer (b. 1932) *2006 – Victor Sokolov, Russian-American priest and journalist (b. 1947) *2007 – Arnold Drake, American author and screenwriter (b. 1924) *2008 – Jorge Guinzburg, Argentinian journalist and producer (b. 1949) * 2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, Italian-French soldier and supercentenarian (b. 1897) *2010 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1920) *2011 – Olive Dickason, Canadian historian and journalist (b. 1920) * 2011 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (b. 1919) *2012 – Samuel Glazer, American businessman, co-founded Mr. Coffee (b. 1923) * 2012 – Dick Harter, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930) * 2012 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (b. 1946) * 2012 – Friedhelm Konietzka, German-Swiss footballer and manager (b. 1938) *2013 – George Burditt, American lawyer and politician (b. 1921) * 2013 – Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1957) * 2013 – Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (b. 1936) * 2013 – Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter and illustrator (b. 1937) *2014 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929) * 2014 – George Donaldson, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1968) * 2014 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923) * 2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931) * 2014 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1936) *2015 – Willie Barrow, American minister and activist (b. 1924) * 2015 – Michael Graves, American architect and academic, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (b. 1934) * 2015 – Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1924) * 2015 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1948) *2016 – Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet and author (b. 1942) * 2016 – Felix Ibru, Nigerian architect and politician, Governor of Delta State (b. 1935) * 2016 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923) Holidays and observances * Arbor Day (China) * Arbor Day (Taiwan) * Aztec New Year * Christian feast day: ** Fina ** Luigi Orione ** Maximilian of Tebessa ** Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion) ** Theophanes the Confessor ** March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) * Girl Scout Birthday (United States) * National Day (Mauritius) * World Day Against Cyber Censorship (requested by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International in 2009) * Tree Day (Republic of Macedonia) * Youth Day (Zambia) External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada Category:Days of the year Category:March